Screaming Doctor Dragged from United Airlines – Kimmel Monologue

United Airlines received a well-earned jab in Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue Monday night, after the company CEO wrote a non-apology for roughing up a doctor while dragging him off of an overbooked flight. In Kimmel’s send-up of a United ad, a smiling employee tells passengers:”Just do what we say, when we say – and there won’t be a problem. If you resist we’ll beat you so badly you can use your own face as a flotation device.”

In fact, the doctor, a paid passenger in the Chicago flight, was bleeding badly after four thugs dragged him from his seat, screaming, and dragged his limp body down the aisle and out of the plane. You might wonder what kind of disruptive behavior caused airline staff to deplane the man with such force. Actually, the passenger had done nothing wrong. United staff discovered that space was needed on the booked flight to accommodate four airline employees. A couple offered to leave, and when no one else volunteered, the man was forcibly removed even though he insisted he had patients to see.

Kimmel likens it to dining at Applebees. You can’t even imagine being forcibly removed from a booked restaurant, but with the lousiest airline, we tolerate the treatment because the alternative is riding the bus.